Utilisation of subsidy possibilities in Hungary using examples in Zala County

Csanádi, Ágnes – Sarudi, Csaba

Keywords: subsidies, tendering activity, own funds for tendering, resource acquisition ability, rural development

The aim of our study is to examine the relationships between the rural development subsidies and development possibilities, financial sources and villages. In compliance with this aim, we analyse the experiences of utilisation of agricultural and rural development subsidies in Zala County using performance data of the rural development programme of the first and second National Development Plans. The dimensions of the examination are based on the evaluation tenders in Zala County of national development plans using settlement, micro-region, county and national data. We demonstrate that the resource acquisition ability of the regions of Zala County is infl uenced by tendering activity, the possibility of having own funds, the size of the settlement and the number of successful tenders. During the period of the Agriculture and Rural Development Operational Programme (AVOP) the rural development programmes were very popular, however, the regions in real need of subsidies performed much below the average of county and national micro-region data, and consequently these programmes did not help the convergence process. Nevertheless, in the overwhelming majority of settlements there was not enough ‘own resource’ to call upon due to the lack of proper economic activity and acceptable developments; however, without these resources there is no possibility to obtain external financial assistance, i.e. to develop economic and human resources. During the New Hungary Rural Development Programme (ÚMVP), in Zala County agricultural and food processing industry tenders have come into prominence as opposed to rural development tenders. Tendering activity has improved both at the county and disadvantageous micro-regional levels compared with data from 2004-2006. Disadvantageous micro-regions have received subsidies exceeding the county and national micro-region averages. Subsidy levels have risen three-fold. Fragmentation of subsidies has lessened and the concentration of the settlements has grown. Noticeably, a positive change has been displayed in connection with the subsidising of more underdeveloped regions and settlements in accordance with the tendering aims and efforts. Notwithstanding this, exchanging national state subsidies for European Union resources could cause difficulties in development financing of smaller settlements in the future, since providing own funds and greater project sizes are not favourable to this group of settlements.

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